Question - replacing a defective Motherboard

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Jim

I'm going to have a defective MSI motherboard replaced with one from another
manufacture. The service tech tells me that he won't have to re-install the
operating system, he can just do a "repair".

Is he correct and how do you do that? I was always under the impression that
unless you replace the MB with an exact duplicate, you will have to
re-install the OS.

Comments appreciated.
 
Jim said:
I'm going to have a defective MSI motherboard replaced with one from another
manufacture. The service tech tells me that he won't have to re-install the
operating system, he can just do a "repair".

Is he correct and how do you do that? I was always under the impression that
unless you replace the MB with an exact duplicate, you will have to
re-install the OS.

Comments appreciated.
Click to expand...

http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
 
Your technician is correct. Presuming no changes other than the
motherboard, Windows XP only needs to update itse Hardware Abstraction
Layer (HAL). The HAL allows the same version of Windows to run on
different hardware platforms - basically the motherboard and its
components. Without the HAL you would need a customized version of
Windows for every motherboard.

The HAL is updated by a repair install. Presuming your technician is on
the ball, you should be good to go. Nevertheless - its always smart to
backup before doing major work on your computer.
 
I'm going to have a defective MSI motherboard replaced with one from another
manufacture. The service tech tells me that he won't have to re-install the
operating system, he can just do a "repair".

Is he correct and how do you do that? I was always under the impression that
unless you replace the MB with an exact duplicate, you will have to
re-install the OS.

Comments appreciated.
Click to expand...

Yes, a repair reinstall "could" fix XP so as to make it work.
However, it should NEVER be assumed to always work. A clean new
install will always work.
 
JS said:
Do you have an OEM or Retail version
of XP?
Click to expand...

I believe that "JS" means "branded OEM"... i.e., one that came with
your PC and that is specific to that PC, not an OEM version that could
have been bought most anywhere.
 
Many thanks fellows, I just learned something new.


I'm going to have a defective MSI motherboard replaced with one from
another
manufacture. The service tech tells me that he won't have to re-install
the
operating system, he can just do a "repair".

Is he correct and how do you do that? I was always under the impression
that
unless you replace the MB with an exact duplicate, you will have to
re-install the OS.

Comments appreciated.
Click to expand...

Yes, a repair reinstall "could" fix XP so as to make it work.
However, it should NEVER be assumed to always work. A clean new
install will always work.
 
Just follow the instructions posted at one of the web sites below,
read each of the steps carefully so you understand what you will be doing a
step by step before you actually start the repair process.
Windows will keep your previous settings, including applications and
device drivers.

If your XP CD is a SP1 or SP2 version and you have installed SP3,
then consider creating a "Slipstreamed" version of your original CD
that incorporates SP3.

Word of warning: Always backup any important data files just incase
things don't go as expected. Read all three articles mention below
"carefully" and see if a Repair Install meets your needs

See: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
and: Windows XP Repair Install - How extreme can you go
http://www.pagestart.com/repairinstall.html

Note: IE7 and IE8 users read this before you start:
"How to perform a repair installation of Windows XP if a later version of
Internet Explorer is installed"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917964

If the PC boots and you are able to logon, then check 'Device Manager' and
look for any Yellow ?
You may need to re-install the device drivers or if you are moving to a new
computer then
have your drive disk ready as you will need to install the Chipset drivers,
LAN, Sound any possibly
others.

Finally go to Windows Update site and install all the updates as they will
need to be reinstalled.

Also read:
Non Destructive Repair of XP by Fred Langa:
http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189400897

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
Fred Langa:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189400897
 
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